INSTA PROFIT
€500 for a tweet? Bump that up to €800 for tweet with Instagram. It’s looking good at SoSueMe blog Passion for beauty products turns into real money spinner
TO MOST of us, it might seem like like one of the more harmless of modern pastimes. You get on your computer, you shoot the breeze, you pop your every thought up on the screen and with one last press of the keyboard, you’re on online blogger.
It has now become a thing, this online blogging... on everything from beauty to travel to fitness.
Those who reckon it’s all a bit of fun, however, might have to think again. Blogging at the top level can be serious business, and if you know what you are doing you can make a tweet little profit.
While some bloggers are running their businesses from their bedrooms, Revenue have indicated that they are watching this growing income stream.
One of the country’s best known bloggers, Suzanne Jackson of SoSueMe, has built an empire from her beauty and lifestyle blog.
As well as updating her blog, she runs paid campaigns for products. Sources have told the Irish Mail on Sunday that she can command €500 for a tweet and €800 for a tweet and an Instagram.
But a spokesperson for Suzanne said this weekend that the rates vary depending on the campaign.
‘The rates that we charge for Suzanne are at the discretion of Sue and her clients as we design and cater all packages to individual projects. Suzanne is an organic blogger and not all social media activity is paid for.’
From Skerries in north Dublin, Suzanne has spent the past few years building her blog www.Sosueme.ie and has become one of Ireland’s top bloggers.
The blogosphere is becoming increasingly saturated with people jumping on the blogging bandwagon. But as a front-runner, Suzanne has seen her business expand to the extent that, last spring, she set up a limited company as her blog grew as a commercial success.
In fact, she has moved into a new five-bedroom house with her fiancé after getting engaged in the Maldives. In April of last year, Suzanne registered Sosueme Limited as a company; her latest accounts show €34,781 in the bank after just one year’s trading.
Similarly, model Pippa O’Connor has set up a company to manage her finances from blogging and her website www.Pippa.ie.
While Pippa runs campaigns for various brands she told the MoS that she doesn’t charge for individual tweets or Instagram posts.
‘I don’t do or charge for individual social media posts. When I work with a brand it’s part of a big campaign that includes everything from social media, advertising on Pippa.ie to a shoot,’ she said.
But as others see the success of Suzanne and Pippa, there has been an online onslaught of bloggers. The Revenue Commissioners have indicated, however, that they are ‘monitoring’ all social media activity for tax compliance.
In a statement, Revenue told the IMoS they are ‘very alert’ to online businesses. ‘Revenue constantly monitors all sources of risk to compliance and is very alert to the risks posed by online business in all its forms, including blogs.
‘Revenue monitors all sources of risk’